Archive for Jul 24, 2008

Apostol Tnokovski has looked to the future and said “balls” to it. Computer balls, that is, in the shape of his E-Ball spherical PC concept. Envisaged as a 6-inch diameter orb with pop-out legs and projected display and keyboard, there’s even a tiny metal arm that can hold up a sheet of paper for use as a makeshift screen.

Hitachi have announced a new high-definition camcorder, the DZ-BD10H, that combines a recordable Blu-ray drive with a 30GB hard-drive and SDHC slot. With a 7-megapixel, 1/2.7-inch CMOS, full 1080p footage can be recorded, edited on-device and the burnt to Blu-ray disc; there’s also a 10x optical zoom and image stablization.

Blockbuster has begun small-scale trials of their online movie rental service, using the Movielink video-download technology the acquired last year. Starting this week, 500 beta testers have been invited to start using the service; the company will charge $2 per rental and $8 per full movie purchase.

Creative have announced their latest PMP, and it seems they’ve drawn inspiration from their bathroom. The ZEN Mosaic is a flash-based media player with a 1.8-inch LCD, audio and video playback, as well as an FM radio and voice recorder. Initially available in 2GB and 4GB sizes, next month will see 8GB and 16GB versions join the line-up.

If those silly cheap gaming chairs with built in speakers aren’t quite hardcore enough for you, this full-motion game chair should be. It is meant for you to become able to be fully immersed in your game.

If you’re a big Zelda fan, you might want a few real life things to hold onto to show your love for the game. Well nothing quite says fanboy like owning a real live ocarina that is completely playable.

When Microsoft released their Games for Windows Live service, it wasn’t exactly well-received. It definitely wasn’t nearly as popular as the Live service for the Xbox 360. As such, Microsoft officially announced that the service (only the Windows version) will now be completely free to use.

I’ve always thought of a person’s PC case as something of form of self-expression. Often you can find a bit out about the person, and the PC simply by looking at their case. If a person isn’t big into gaming or performance, they will generally have a stock case, or a plain ATX chassis. PC gamers will generally go for a case with plenty of cooling, and a specific look that suits them. The new Guardian 921 from NZXT definitely lets everyone know that you’re a gamer.

The chassis looks sleek with just the right amount of curves, angles and blue lighting effects to look awesome, without overdoing it. It is crafted from .88mm/1.00mm steel and has a spacious interior for installing a variety of drives and larger video cards. You’ll also find a slew of peripheral connectors which always come in handy. You’ll be able to monitor your system temperature with three different temp probes, while three large 120mm fans keep things cool and quiet.

With Guitar Hero: World Tour coming later this year, I’d all but given up on having much more DLC for GH III. Sure, we know about the new Metallica album that’s coming, but that’s probably it, right? Nope, Activision is still churning out new tracks (albeit slowly) for their current game. Hit the jump for the list of tracks in the upcoming Virtuoso Pack.

If you’ve been looking for more cheap games to download for your Xbox 360, you’ll be getting plenty. Starting this holiday season you’ll be able begin purchasing homebrew games from the XNA Code Creators Club. Microsoft has finally revealed the details on how this system will work.

Latest company to be tipped in a netbook rumor is LG, with a Digitimes report claiming they had been looking for a manufacturing partner and, according to sources, settled on MSI. The budget notebook, apparently called the X110, is tipped to launch in October and, like many rivals, will use Intel’s Atom processor.

It’s not just Samsung that can do media streaming; Pioneer’s most-recent Kuro HDTVs, the PDP-6020FD and PDP-5020FD, are equipped with ethernet ports that, unlike those found on some of the new Samsungs, can actually funnel movies, music, and photos over your home network. The televisions act as DLNA clients, and can receive content from Windows Media Player 11 or other compatible sources. Crave had a chance for some hands-on time with the PDP-5020FD, and while the setup isn’t perfect they still seem pretty impressed.